FILMS/
NOT BY CHANCE
Não por acaso
New Directors
Brazil, 2007, 100 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Sat, May 3 / 9:30 / Kabuki / NOT03K
Mon, May 5 / 6:30 / Kabuki / NOT05K
Wed, May 7 / 9:45 / Kabuki / NOT07K
CREDITS
- prod
-
Fernando Meirelles, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck
- scr
-
Philippe Barcinski, Fabiana Werneck Barcinski, Eugênio Puppo
- cam
-
Pedro Farkas
- editor
-
Ed Côrtes
- mus
-
Márcio Canella
- cast
-
Rodrigo Santoro, Leonardo Medeiros, Letícia Sabatella, Branca Messina, Rita Batata
- source
-
Ondamax Films, 1360 Monad Terrace, Suite #1, Miami Beach, FL 33139. EMAIL: info@ondamaxfilms.com
Do we control our own destiny? Can a twist of fate change who we are? These are questions at the core of this fascinating and dramatic character study set on the vibrant streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Enio thrives on order. A middle-aged traffic controller who lives alone in a cramped apartment, he is happiest when applying mathematical formulae to the potentially random behavior of people in cars. Across town, thirtysomething Pedro builds billiard tables. When he’s not diagramming the geometric motion of pool balls or competing in billiard tournaments, he spends time with his adoring girlfriend. Life is organized and predictable for these two strangers. But when a dreadful tragedy rocks their world, Enio and Pedro are forced out of the routine existence they have worked so hard to create. As the shell-shocked duo deals with the uncertainty of suddenly upside-down lives in different and disturbing ways, the film exposes the fragile line between order and chaos. In his first feature, writer/director Philippe Barcinski uses a voyeuristic, natural style to get inside the heads of these complicated people and show how they navigate new environments and relationships. Stirring performances by the ensemble cast combine with electrifying shots of this stimulating city to create an urgent mood throughout. Like Amores Perros and Crash, Not by Chance explores how seemingly random events can generate human connections and possibilities that no one can predict.
—Brendan Peterson
